Senator Nancy Binay, the daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, urged to ban the selling of fireworks to minor children aged 15 years and below due to the number of firecracker accidents this year.
According to the report of Philstar, Senator Nancy Binay wants the immediate passage of the Senate Bill 225 that ” seeks to reduce the number of accidents and injuries due to firecrackers, majority of which are sustained by children, by prohibiting the selling, giving, or in any way sharing of firecrackers.”
Person who is guilty of the act will be punished with imprisonment and will be fined not less than 50, 000 and will not exceed 250, 000. The senate bill was filed in July 2013 and is still pending on the senate committee.
“While we have banned certain firecrackers such as piccolo or watusi, I think it’s high time to make the law even tighter by making it illegal to sell, give or in any way share any type of firework or firecrackers to children 15 years of age and below,” Senator Binay said.
The Department of Health (DOH) reported that there are 155 children aged 10 and below who were injured in the recent celebration of New Year’s eve.
Among the firecrackers that were already banned in the country are picolo, watusi, pla-pla and fivestar. But although piccolo has been banned, it still caused most number of injuries this year, according to DOH.